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docs: update, mostly for uAppImage notes
README.md: * updated AppImage notes - point to latest/continuous release instead of CI artifacts * case adjustments for Hotspot and AppImage * http -> https * some minor rewording HACKING.md: * drop the unzip step as it is not needed any more * update AppImage version and date to a more current one
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| # Hotspot - the Linux perf GUI for performance analysis | ||
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| This project is a [KDAB](http://www.kdab.com) R&D effort to create a standalone | ||
| This project is a [KDAB](https://www.kdab.com) R&D effort to create a standalone | ||
| GUI for performance data. As the first goal, we want to provide a UI like | ||
| KCachegrind around Linux perf. Looking ahead, we intend to support various other | ||
| performance data formats under this umbrella. | ||
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| <!-- toc --> | ||
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| - [Screenshots](#screenshots) | ||
| - [Visualize Data](#visualize-data) | ||
| - [Visualizing Data](#visualizing-data) | ||
| - [Time Line](#time-line) | ||
| - [Record Data](#record-data) | ||
| - [Getting Hotspot](#getting-hotspot) | ||
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| ## Screenshots | ||
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| Here are some screenshots showing the most important features of hotspot in action: | ||
| Here are some screenshots showing the most important features of Hotspot in action: | ||
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| ### Visualize Data | ||
| ### Visualizing Data | ||
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| The main feature of hotspot is visualizing a `perf.data` file graphically. | ||
| The main feature of Hotspot is the graphical visualization of a `perf.data` file. | ||
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| "Hotspot with custom dockwidget layout and disassembly view") | ||
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| ### Time Line | ||
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| The time line allows filtering the results by time, process or thread. The data views will update accordingly. | ||
| The time line allows filtering the results by time, process or thread. The data views are updated accordingly. | ||
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| "Hotspot timeline filtering by time") | ||
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| "Hotspot timeline filtering by thread or process") | ||
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| ![hotspot timeline filtering applied to FlameGraph](screenshots/timeline-flamegraph.png?raw=true | ||
| "hotspot timeline filtering also applies to the data views on top, like e.g. the FlameGraph. | ||
| "Hotspot timeline filtering also applies to the data views on top, like e.g. the FlameGraph. | ||
| You can also zoom in on the timeline and inspect individual sample data.") | ||
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| ### Record Data | ||
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| You can also launch `perf` from hotspot, to profile a newly started application | ||
| You can also launch `perf` from Hotspot, to profile a newly started application | ||
| or to attach to already running process(es). Do take the | ||
| [caveats below](#recording-with-perf-without-super-user-rights) into account though. | ||
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| "Hotspot can launch a new application and profile it with perf from the record page.") | ||
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| "Hotspot also allows runtime-attaching of perf to existing applications to profile them.") | ||
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| ## Getting Hotspot | ||
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| *Note: Hotspot is not yet packaged on all Linux distributions. In such cases, or when you want to use the | ||
| *Note: Hotspot is not yet packaged on all Linux distributions. In such cases, or if you want to use the | ||
| latest version, please use the AppImage which will work on any recent Linux distro just fine.* | ||
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| ### ArchLinux | ||
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| hotspot is available in AUR (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/hotspot). | ||
| Hotspot is available in AUR (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/hotspot). | ||
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| ### Debian / Ubuntu | ||
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| hotspot is available in Debian (https://packages.debian.org/hotspot) and Ubuntu | ||
| Hotspot is available in Debian (https://packages.debian.org/hotspot) and Ubuntu | ||
| (https://packages.ubuntu.com/hotspot). | ||
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| ### Gentoo | ||
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| hotspot ebuilds are available from our overlay (https://github.com/KDAB/kdab-overlay). | ||
| Hotspot ebuilds are available from our overlay (https://github.com/KDAB/kdab-overlay). | ||
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| ### Fedora | ||
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| hotspot is available in Fedora (https://packages.fedoraproject.org/pkgs/hotspot/hotspot/). | ||
| Hotspot is available in Fedora (https://packages.fedoraproject.org/pkgs/hotspot/hotspot/). | ||
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| ### For any Linux distro: AppImage | ||
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| Head over to our [list of AppImage build jobs][appimagejobs]. | ||
| When you click on a job, you'll see a page with an "Artifacts" section that contains an "appimage" binary | ||
| you can then download. Unzip the AppImage file and make it executable, then run it. | ||
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| [appimagejobs]: https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot/actions/workflows/build-appimage.yml?query=branch%3Amaster | ||
| You can either head over to the most [current release](https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot/releases/latest) | ||
| or the [continuous build](https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot/releases/tag/continuous). | ||
| In both cases you'll find the AppImage under "Assets" that you can download. | ||
| Untar the AppImage file (in case of the latest release), then make it executable and then run it. | ||
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| Please use the latest build to get the most recent version. If it doesn't work, please report a | ||
| bug and test the latest stable version. | ||
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| *Note: Your system libraries or preferences are not altered. In case you'd like to remove Hotspot again, | ||
| simply delete the downloaded file. Learn more about AppImage [here](http://appimage.org/).* | ||
| simply delete the downloaded file. Learn more about AppImage [here](https://appimage.org/).* | ||
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| To find out how to debug the Appimage, see [HACKING](HACKING.md#debugging-the-appimage). | ||
| To find out how to debug the AppImage, see [HACKING](HACKING.md#debugging-the-appimage). | ||
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| ## Building Hotspot | ||
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| Building hotspot from source gives you the latest and greatest, but you'll have to make sure all its | ||
| dependencies are available. Most users should probably [install hotspot](#getting-hotspot) from the distro | ||
| Building Hotspot from source gives you the latest and greatest, but you'll have to make sure all its | ||
| dependencies are available. Most users should probably [install Hotspot](#getting-hotspot) from the distro | ||
| package manager or as an [AppImage](#for-any-linux-distro-appimage). | ||
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| For everyone that wants to contribute to Hotspot or use the newest version without the Appimage detailed | ||
| For everyone that wants to contribute to Hotspot or use the newest version without the AppImage detailed | ||
| notes are found at [HACKING](HACKING.md#table-of-contents). | ||
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| ## Using | ||
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@@ -154,7 +153,7 @@ perf record --call-graph dwarf <your application> | |
| [ perf record: Captured and wrote 14.874 MB perf.data (1865 samples) ] | ||
| ``` | ||
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| Now, if you have hotspot available on the same machine, all you need to do is launch it. | ||
| Now, if you have Hotspot available on the same machine, all you need to do is launch it. | ||
| It will automatically open the `perf.data` file in the current directory (similar to `perf report`). | ||
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| Alternatively, you can specify the path to the data file on the console: | ||
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| ### Command Line options | ||
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| Depending on your needs you may want to pass additional command line options to hotspot. | ||
| Depending on your needs you may want to pass additional command line options to Hotspot. | ||
| This allows to one-time set configuration options that are found in the GUI under "Settings" | ||
| and also allows to convert Linux perf data files into the smaller and portable perfdata format | ||
| (see [Import / Export](#import-export) for details on that). | ||
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@@ -221,7 +220,7 @@ and we only pay a price, when the process is actually getting switched out. Most | |
| we do not pay a price when e.g. a mutex lock operation can be handled directly in | ||
| user-space. | ||
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| To do off-CPU analysis with hotspot, you need to record the data with a very specific | ||
| To do off-CPU analysis with Hotspot, you need to record the data with a very specific | ||
| command: | ||
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| ```bash | ||
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| <your application> | ||
| ``` | ||
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| Alternatively, you can use the off-CPU check box in hotspot's integrated record page. | ||
| Alternatively, you can use the off-CPU check box in Hotspot's integrated record page. | ||
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| During the analysis, you can then switch between the "cycles" cost view for on-CPU data | ||
| to the "off-CPU time" cost view for wait-time analysis. Often, you will want to change | ||
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@@ -250,7 +249,7 @@ inbetween is often way more interesting to me - and that's what is shown to you | |
| ### Embedded Systems | ||
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| If you are recording on an embedded system, you will want to analyze the data on your | ||
| development machine with hotspot. To do so, make sure your sysroot contains the debug | ||
| development machine with Hotspot. To do so, make sure your sysroot contains the debug | ||
| information required for unwinding (see below). Then record the data on your embedded | ||
| system: | ||
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@@ -304,22 +303,25 @@ a colleague to investigate a performance issue, or for bug reporting purposes. | |
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| Hotspot allows you to export the analyzed data, which is then fully self-contained. | ||
| This feature is accessible via the "File > Save As" menu action. The data is then | ||
| saved in a self-contained `*.perfparser` file. To import the data into hotspot again, | ||
| saved in a self-contained `*.perfparser` file. To import the data into Hotspot again, | ||
| just open that file directly in place of the original `perf.data` file. | ||
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| As an alternative you can also do the export from command line (without a GUI, so that's | ||
| also usable with automated builds) using the `--exportTo` option. | ||
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| **Note:** The file format is _not_ yet stable. Meaning data exported by one version | ||
| of hotspot can only be read back in by the same version. This problem will be | ||
| of Hotspot can only be read back in by the same version. This problem will be | ||
| resolved in the future, as time permits. | ||
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| ### tracepoints | ||
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| hotspot currently only shows the name of the tracepoints in the timeline. | ||
| Hotspot currently only shows the name of the tracepoints in the timeline. | ||
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| ### Disassembler | ||
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| Hotspot includes an disassembler, which can show you the cost per instruction. | ||
| The disassembler uses colors to indicate which assembly lines correspond to | ||
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| notably, unwinding will fail when: | ||
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| - an ELF file (i.e. executable or library) referenced by the `perf.data` file is missing | ||
| - to fix this, try to use one of the following CLI arguments to let hotspot know where to look for the | ||
| - to fix this, try to use one of the following CLI arguments to let Hotspot know where to look for the | ||
| ELF files: | ||
| - `--debugPaths <paths>`: Use this when you have split debug files in non-standard locations | ||
| - `--extraLibPaths <paths>`: Use this when you have moved libraries to some other location since recording | ||
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| - your call stacks are too deep | ||
| - by default, `perf record` only copies a part of the stack to the data file. This can lead to issues with | ||
| very deep call stacks, which will be cut off at some point. This issue will break the top-down call trees | ||
| in hotspot, as visualized in the Top-Down view or the Flame Graph. To fix this, you can try to increase | ||
| in Hotspot, as visualized in the Top-Down view or the Flame Graph. To fix this, you can try to increase | ||
| the stack dump size, i.e.: | ||
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| perf record --call-graph dwarf,32768 | ||
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| ### debuginfod | ||
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| hotspot supports downloading debug symbols via [debuginfod](https://sourceware.org/elfutils/Debuginfod.html). | ||
| This can be enabled by either adding download urls in the settings or launching hotspot with `DEBUGINFOD_URLS` | ||
| Hotspot supports downloading debug symbols via [debuginfod](https://sourceware.org/elfutils/Debuginfod.html). | ||
| This can be enabled by either adding download urls in the settings or launching Hotspot with `DEBUGINFOD_URLS` | ||
| defined in the environment. | ||
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| ### Missing Features | ||
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| Compared to `perf report`, hotspot misses a lot of features. Some of these are planned to be resolved | ||
| Compared to `perf report`, Hotspot misses a lot of features. Some of these are planned to be resolved | ||
| in the future. Others may potentially never get implemented. But be aware that the following features | ||
| are _not_ available in hotspot currently: | ||
| are _not_ available in Hotspot currently: | ||
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| - the columns in the tables are currently hardcoded, while potentially a user may want to change this to show | ||
| e.g. cost per-process or thread and so forth. Basic group-by functionality was added, but a more flexible | ||
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| ### Recording with perf without super user rights | ||
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| It is **not** a good idea to launch hotspot with `sudo` or as `root` user. See e.g. | ||
| It is **not** a good idea to launch Hotspot with `sudo` or as `root` user. See e.g. | ||
| [Editing Files As Root](https://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2017/02/editing-files-as-root/) | ||
| for an article on that matter. [Issue #83](https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot/issues/83) is | ||
| also relevant in this contact. | ||
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| But without superuser rights, you may see error messages such as the following | ||
| when using hotspot's record feature: | ||
| when using Hotspot's record feature: | ||
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| ```text | ||
| You may not have permission to collect stats. | ||
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| 2 - Disallow kernel profiling for unpriv | ||
| ``` | ||
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| To workaround this limitation, hotspot can run perf itself with elevated privileges. | ||
| To workaround this limitation, Hotspot can run perf itself with elevated privileges. | ||
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| ### Export File Format | ||
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| The current data export is limited to a format that can only be read back by hotspot of the same | ||
| The current data export is limited to a format that can only be read back by Hotspot of the same | ||
| version. This makes interop with other visualization tools quasi impossible. This is known and | ||
| will get improved in the future. Most notably support for export to web viewers such as | ||
| [perfetto](https://perfetto.dev/) or the [Mozilla profiler](https://profiler.firefox.com/) is | ||
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| This project leverages the excellent `perfparser` utility created by The Qt Company | ||
| for their Qt Creator IDE. If you are already using Qt Creator, consider leveraging | ||
| its integrated [CPU Usage Analyzer](http://doc.qt.io/qtcreator/creator-cpu-usage-analyzer.html). | ||
| its integrated [CPU Usage Analyzer](https://doc.qt.io/qtcreator/creator-cpu-usage-analyzer.html). | ||
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| ## License | ||
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| Hotspot is the GPL v2+. See [LICENSE.GPL.txt](LICENSE.GPL.txt) for more information, or contact | ||
| [email protected] if any conditions of this licensing are not clear to you. | ||
| Hotspot is licensed under the GPL v2+. See [LICENSE.GPL.txt](LICENSE.GPL.txt) for more information, | ||
| or contact [email protected] if any conditions of this licensing are not clear to you. | ||